Privacy Policy

NORTEZ ("NORTEZ", "we", "us") is a South African local discovery and business-directory platform available at nortez.co.za. Contact: business@nortez.co.za.

NORTEZ is the responsible party for personal information processed through the platform. This policy explains how we handle that information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (POPIA), and should be read with our Terms and Conditions.

Depending on how you use NORTEZ, we may process:

• Account information: email address, password (stored in encrypted form by our sign-in provider) or Google sign-in identifier, and optional name and phone number in your private personal details.
• Business profile information you publish: business name, category, description, location or street address, map pin, phone and WhatsApp numbers, logo, cover image and availability status.
• Listings and photos you publish: titles, descriptions, prices, categories and images.
• Messages you send to other users inside NORTEZ, service requests and verified reviews.
• Saved businesses, saved listings, private contacts, saved searches and alert preferences.
• Business claim requests: your name, email, phone, role at the business and any verification note.
• Suggestions and invitations you submit about businesses not yet on NORTEZ.
• Usage information: profile and listing views, saves, searches and taps on Call or WhatsApp buttons, used to show business owners their performance.
• Your device location, only if you allow it in your browser, to show nearby results. We do not store your live location.

NORTEZ creates basic directory entries for local businesses using publicly available business information, such as the business name, category, public contact details, website and address. An entry may exist before the owner registers.

An unclaimed entry is clearly marked as not yet on NORTEZ. It does not mean the business has joined, endorsed or partnered with NORTEZ.

A business owner or authorised representative can claim the profile using "Claim this business", or ask us to correct, dispute or remove an entry using "Update details or request removal" on the profile or by emailing business@nortez.co.za. Claims and requests are reviewed by the NORTEZ team and may require verification.

Being listed in the directory is not consent to marketing. Invitations sent by users through WhatsApp are sent by those users from their own WhatsApp account.

• To create and run your account and the business profiles you manage.
• To publish the business profiles and listings you choose to make public.
• To provide search, maps, nearby results, saved items and alerts.
• To deliver messages, service requests and verified reviews between users.
• To review business claims, corrections, reports and disputes.
• To show business owners analytics about their own profile and listings (owners' own visits are excluded).
• To apply plan allowances, keep the platform secure, prevent abuse and enforce our policies.
• To meet legal obligations and to establish or defend legal claims.

We process information where it is necessary to provide the service you asked for, where we have a legitimate interest that does not override your rights, where the law requires it, or with your consent.

Your personal account is private and is never publicly searchable. Your name, email and private details are not shown on business profiles.

Anything you publish on a business profile or listing (name, description, photos, location and listings) is visible to anyone, including people without an account. Do not publish information you want to keep private.

Business phone numbers are not displayed as text. Visitors reach a business through the Call and WhatsApp buttons.

Messages are visible only to the people in the conversation.

NORTEZ does not sell personal information.

We share information only with service providers that help us run the platform (hosting, database, file storage and sign-in services), when you choose to contact a business through your phone or WhatsApp, when required by law, or to protect users and the platform from fraud or harm.

Maps are displayed using OpenStreetMap map tiles, so your browser requests map images from OpenStreetMap servers. Google sign-in is provided by Google if you choose it.

NORTEZ uses essential browser storage to keep you signed in and to make the app work. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party advertising trackers.

We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures, including access controls that limit each user to their own private data, encrypted connections (HTTPS), and private storage for uploaded images. No online service can be guaranteed completely secure. Please use a strong password and keep it private.

If we have reasonable grounds to believe that personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, we will notify the Information Regulator and the affected people as required by section 22 of POPIA, unless the law or a public authority requires a delay, and explain the steps people can take to protect themselves.

Our hosting and database provider stores NORTEZ data on servers in the European Union (Frankfurt, Germany). Google (if you use Google sign-in) and OpenStreetMap (map images) may process limited information in other countries. We transfer personal information outside South Africa only as permitted by section 72 of POPIA, for example where it is necessary to provide the service you asked for or where the recipient is bound by data-protection terms that offer adequate protection.

We keep information for as long as your account is active and as needed to provide the service, resolve disputes, meet legal obligations and protect the platform. When information is no longer needed it is deleted or de-identified.

Under POPIA you may ask to access the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, object to certain processing, and withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

Send requests to business@nortez.co.za. We may need to verify your identity, or your authority to act for a business, before acting.

You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa: inforegulator.org.za, POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za.

You can delete your account yourself under Account → Delete account, or by emailing business@nortez.co.za from the address linked to your account.

Deleting your account permanently removes your sign-in, private personal details, saved items, contacts, alerts, notifications, claims, invitations and suggestions, conversations you started as a customer, and the business profiles and listings you manage.

A business that came from the public directory is not deleted: it returns to an unclaimed directory entry so the real business can still be found and claimed again.

Reviews you left on other businesses stay visible so their verified ratings remain accurate, but they are no longer linked to any account. Uploaded photo files may take up to 30 days to be fully cleared from storage. Records may be kept longer only where the law requires.

NORTEZ is intended for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

We may update this policy when the app or the law changes. The date at the top shows the latest version. Questions: business@nortez.co.za.